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KYW 1060's [Lack of] Class A Signal


cbs2newengland

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I live in south central NH and I have been able to get a bunch of Class A stations at night for many years. The stations I used to listen were (in order of signal strength), WBBR, WCBS, WABC, WOR and actually WINS from NY; other stations that come clear as a bell, WTIC, WBAL (surprisingly), WGY out of Albany, NY, and don't quote me but I think I got ether WLS or WJR out in the mid west. Where I live now, I can get all NYC and Hartford Class A during the day when blasting my radio, soft signal without any static.

 

However, I haven't been able to get, is KYW. It is a Class A station, and supposedly blanked the east coast at night, because a Boston station on that same signal has to move to another transmitter when the night falls. I think I've counted with 2 fingers that I have successfully got 1060 up where I am, like a decade ago. I should actually put quotation marks because it didn't sound clear as a bell.

 

I acquired a GE Superadio (the standard for picking up these blowtoarches) and tried the other night and didn't get 1060 at all.

 

The reason I am bringing this up, is that am I the only one who gets a weak signal outside the Philly market?

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wow that explains the need to go to FM! But why is there so much RF noise nearby a major AM radio station?

 

Pretty much anything electronic these days can jack up an AM signal. You hold a cell phone up to the radio (esp a GSM one) and tell me you don't hear that familiar buzzing. Also the IBOC doesn't help matters either.

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I live in south central NH and I have been able to get a bunch of Class A stations at night for many years. The stations I used to listen were (in order of signal strength), WBBR, WCBS, WABC, WOR and actually WINS from NY; other stations that come clear as a bell, WTIC, WBAL (surprisingly), WGY out of Albany, NY, and don't quote me but I think I got ether WLS or WJR out in the mid west. Where I live now, I can get all NYC and Hartford Class A during the day when blasting my radio, soft signal without any static.

 

However, I haven't been able to get, is KYW. It is a Class A station, and supposedly blanked the east coast at night, because a Boston station on that same signal has to move to another transmitter when the night falls. I think I've counted with 2 fingers that I have successfully got 1060 up where I am, like a decade ago. I should actually put quotation marks because it didn't sound clear as a bell.

 

I acquired a GE Superadio (the standard for picking up these blowtoarches) and tried the other night and didn't get 1060 at all.

 

The reason I am bringing this up, is that am I the only one who gets a weak signal outside the Philly market?

Class A / Clear Channel stations are protected from interference in a 750mile radius, so I'm not surprised you could pick up WBAL. WBAL's signal is currently maxed out at 50,000 watts and can be heard in Nova Scotia and Bermuda at night. But during the day can be heard throughout all but the westernmost portions of Maryland (due to mountains) and large portions of Delaware and PA..

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This is new to me - how does an AM station propagate so far? I can't believe you can get all those different stations in NH!

 

Class A stations are allowed to reach well beyond their markets to maintain radio service across the country. In theory you can drive to any part of the country and be able to tune in at least one station on the AM band.

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This is new to me - how does an AM station propagate so far? I can't believe you can get all those different stations in NH!

Basically it has to do with the signal being reflected / refracted better in the night sky. Look up sky wave propagation.

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Yeah, I have to agree that KYW is one of those Class A's that don't come in well (or at all some nights!). In Brooklyn, there is nothing but bleed most nights from WEPN-AM (1050) and once in a while a little bit of talk which is KYW (can identify by the KYW News Time...). This signal is horrible compared to WPHT. I get WPHT loud with the HD flashing and the WPHT calls shown on my XDR-S3HD and some nights an HD locks. Even during the day WPHT is listenable (I like the Sinatra show during Sunday Mornings by the way). I get WBBM and WLS OK from Chicago (even with WABC and WCBS next to them like WEPN with KYW, you don't hear that bleed like you do from WEPN), the same goes with WBZ from Boston and WBT from Raleigh. Even others like CHML and WWKB from Buffalo/Hamilton area, and WTAM and WCKY from Cleveland are clear from the early evening to most times mid-morning.

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I remember a few years ago being able to pick up both 1060 KYW and 1020 KDKA in St. Louis. The signal wasn't nearly as strong as a say 780 WBBM, but hearing the KDKA and KYW sounders was a pleasant surprise.

 

I have more trouble with 780 these days because of our local 770 WEW. Starting at sunset, 780 would usually come in like a local until about 7am the next morning.

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Yeah, I have to agree that KYW is one of those Class A's that don't come in well (or at all some nights!). In Brooklyn, there is nothing but bleed most nights from WEPN-AM (1050) and once in a while a little bit of talk which is KYW (can identify by the KYW News Time...). This signal is horrible compared to WPHT. I get WPHT loud with the HD flashing and the WPHT calls shown on my XDR-S3HD and some nights an HD locks. Even during the day WPHT is listenable (I like the Sinatra show during Sunday Mornings by the way). I get WBBM and WLS OK from Chicago (even with WABC and WCBS next to them like WEPN with KYW, you don't hear that bleed like you do from WEPN), the same goes with WBZ from Boston and WBT from Raleigh. Even others like CHML and WWKB from Buffalo/Hamilton area, and WTAM and WCKY from Cleveland are clear from the early evening to most times mid-morning.

 

When I used to visit one of my family members in Stamford, I tried to get 1060, and actually I got WBZ 1030 clear as bell signal bouncing off the LI Sound!

 

I went to DC in 2002, and passed by Philly via the Amtrak, and tried 1060 a pretty good digital tuning Walkman and got nothing.

 

 

I remember a few years ago being able to pick up both 1060 KYW and 1020 KDKA in St. Louis. The signal wasn't nearly as strong as a say 780 WBBM, but hearing the KDKA and KYW sounders was a pleasant surprise.

 

I have more trouble with 780 these days because of our local 770 WEW. Starting at sunset, 780 would usually come in like a local until about 7am the next morning.

 

Wasn't Group W a lucky bitch to tout many of their Class As just within the 1000 range, 1010 WINS, KDKA 1020, WBZ 1030, KYW 1060?

 

At least it confirms I'm not the only one who is better off running a Radio.com app or listen to iTunes than trying to pull a weak signal on the old fashioned radio. Thanks all!

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Wasn't Group W a lucky bitch to tout many of their Class As just within the 1000 range, 1010 WINS, KDKA 1020, WBZ 1030, KYW 1060?

Throw in WOWO 1190 (which they owned until 1983) and KYW at 1100 (during their nine-year voyage in Cleveland).
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The current Class A designation replaced the original "clear channel" designation (no relation to the current iHeartMedia)... which guaranteed an even larger area of nighttime protection for these stations.

 

It was mainly because of stations like KOB 770 Albuquerque who didn't want to sign off at night because of WABC 770's signal. Even stations like WHLO 640 in Akron were forced to sign off at LA sunset time in order to protect KFI 640, and graveyards on 1570 needed to sign off to protect XERF.

 

While 50,000 watts is the standard cap for AM stations in the US, one notable exception existed in WLW 700, which powered up to 500,000 watts in the 1930s (thus, their heritage "Nation's Station" moniker).

 

As for KYW, it does come in here in Cleveland at night, when WILB 1060 Canton signs off. Despite being a class A signal, it was a late-comer in the market (remember, KYW physically moved from Chicago to Philadelphia in 1941), and already had to accommodate the existing WHN 1050 and a whole bunch of adjacent channels. Thus, it is a directional array that has a whole lot of nulls, especially towards New York. Washington D.C. likely falls under another null of some sort.

 

WPHT 1210 (nee WCAU) in comparison, was already established in Philadelphia when they were designated as a clear channel signal, and thus could be non-directional.

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WPHT 1210 (nee WCAU) in comparison, was already established in Philadelphia when they were designated as a clear channel signal, and thus could be non-directional.

 

Yep. I drove from Philly to Chicago over night once and got to listen to entire Phillies game and I was well into Ohio by the time it was over.

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Class A stations are allowed to reach well beyond their markets to maintain radio service across the country. In theory you can drive to any part of the country and be able to tune in at least one station on the AM band.

You must never have driven the "radio wasteland" of Northern Arizona. Outside of Flagstaff, there are whole swaths of I-40 where there is nothing - AM or FM - the auto tuners just cycle the dial 530 - 1710 on AM and 87.5 to 108.1 on FM... No KOB or KTAR, even... Plus places in the Rockies that KOA doesn't hit...

 

I enjoyed driving from College Station to Dallas (or vice versa) at night in the 80s, to see what I could pick up. (Got a real treat hearing KOA using the "Spirit of Texas" sounder and theme - "The Spirit of Denver, is alive on KOA. Come out and celebrate the Spirit of Denver on K-O-A")

 

(I know you said "in theory")

 

J

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You must never have driven the "radio wasteland" of Northern Arizona. Outside of Flagstaff, there are whole swaths of I-40 where there is nothing - AM or FM - the auto tuners just cycle the dial 530 - 1710 on AM and 87.5 to 108.1 on FM... No KOB or KTAR, even... Plus places in the Rockies that KOA doesn't hit...

 

I enjoyed driving from College Station to Dallas (or vice versa) at night in the 80s, to see what I could pick up. (Got a real treat hearing KOA using the "Spirit of Texas" sounder and theme - "The Spirit of Denver, is alive on KOA. Come out and celebrate the Spirit of Denver on K-O-A")

 

(I know you said "in theory")

 

J

 

Wow that was interesting with KOA, so they actually used the TM Productions theme for their sounders? I'm assuming Belo didn't own them (although they did own radio stations at one point I know.)

 

Now that makes sense that first-cousin-since-removed KCNC-TV used "The Spirt of Colorado" in their branding in the late 90s.

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Wow that was interesting with KOA, so they actually used the TM Productions theme for their sounders? I'm assuming Belo didn't own them (although they did own radio stations at one point I know.)

 

Now that makes sense that first-cousin-since-removed KCNC-TV used "The Spirt of Colorado" in their branding in the late 90s.

 

KOA AM/TV was always owned by General Electric. KOA 850 was sold off when GE bought RCA for NBC-TV.

 

It's been cited before, but WNIR-FM in Akron - owned locally by the Klaus family - has used the same jingle package and sounders since the early 1980s. The SAME EXACT JINGLE PACKAGE.

 

And WTVN-TV, a Taft station, called itself the "Spirit of Ohio" and used the same theme until Taft spun it off to become WSYX.

 

"Spirit of..." was never proprietary to Belo.

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